Embarrassing ...or not?

Does Pokemon seem embarrassing to your friends?

  • Total voters
    65
pkolaboy

pkolaboy

Tyranitar be taunting'
Member
To start off, I am 24 years old and never played ptcg in my life (only collected when they first came out). I started playing December of 2011 and now like to play competitively (living in Hawaii restricts playing to only the main tournaments).

This is mainly for masters and some older seniors. To get to the main point, does admitting to playing Pokemon to some of your friends seem a little, embarrassing? I am in the Navy and not many of my friends know I play. I wouldn't seem like the type of person that plays the card game. When someone finds out that I play they immediately say "You play POKEMON??".

lol I am pretty sure they think of Pokemon when it first came out when "We were kids" and think that it stays at that level. What they do not know is that the majority of people that play are 18+ years old, that Pokemon is one of the most strategic card games out there (also one of the cheapest), and obviously super fun! They guy who won states here (24 yo), I asked him what friends of his knew he played. He said only the one guy who came with him a couple of times to play. So I am not sure if this is a problem with other tcg players so I figured to ask.

Now I am not bashing Pokemon at all. I love to play tcg and vg and any time I get the chance to play tcg (not online) I will jump at it.
 
Tell people to judge you by who you are, not your hobbies. I'm 17 and am not one bit embarrassed by playing Pokemon, in fact, I am very open about it. Pokemon is actually how I got most of my friends anyways.
 
I have liked Pokémon stuff on Facebook so it's there for anyone to see if they care. I don't advertise that I like it, though. xP
 
I don't come across as someone who would play a card game (in fact my friends would probably think that I'd be the first guy to make fun of something like this). At college, my friends do not know that I play Pokemon (except for the copy of Pokemon Platinum that I keep laying around, but never get a chance to play). I know that they wouldn't care, but I prefer to keep it to myself. At home, there aren't many people who know that I play either, only three or four friends know that I play, and of course they don't care at all either.

Honestly I don't think that it is the age or the perception of immaturity that is the problem, its that this is a hobby that isn't very well known, and it is the strangeness of it all that can cause problems. People don't tend to like things that they don't understand, eh? I'd definitely classify playing the game (or at least admitting to playing it) as embarrassing, but only slightly. It's the same as having a stuffed animal or two laying around your room, having an extensive rock collection, having a box of your old action figures in a box under your bed back at your parents house, or being an avid fan of Star Wars/Star Trek/Batman/Spiderman or what have you.

Everybody has their own little nerdy hobby, connection back to their childhood, or strange activity that they enjoy. So telling other people about yours isn't going to cause them to look down on you, just look at your in a different light, and yes that can be embarrassing.
 
the best way to not be judged for playing pokemon is to not be embarrassed by playing pokemon. An article on smogon once said that your friends will only care if you play pokemon if you care that you play pokemon. Basically don't be ashamed if your friends know and they cant really make fun of you too much for it.


Edit: found the article

Here's the whole article if anyone want's it, though it does talk briefly about adult material, so don't say i didn't warn you.
Strangely enough, it's about how not to get caught that you play pokemon.

I deleted the quote. A little inappropriate for younger members, but I kept the link. ~Serperior.
 
Just one thing: if you have a crush, don't let them or anyone connected to them know. I am not ashamed, but you still don't want them to think you are a nerd.
 
...this article is great.

For the most part my school doesn't know, although that's because my high school was notorious in the area for having extremely judgemental people in it. Most of my friends know, and they don't really care. If they're really your friends, they won't care what you do or don't play. I've actually gotten some of my friends into the TCG. So my friends don't care, but I wouldn't advertise it around the school. It's like...once somebody is your friends, they don't care because they already realize how cool you are. If they're not your friend, you probably shouldn't tell them because they'd probably just think you were wierd because they don't know you that well.

If you need to convince people, talk about the money. Tell people about how the right cards can sell for upwards of $50, and they noramlly will agree that its kind of cool to have a way to make extra money to help pay for tuition/textbooks/laptops/food/partying/gas/whatever. If you bring up the scholarships involved with nationals and worlds, that is a big selling point too.

EDIT: Going off of what vablakes said, this is true to an extent. Don't tell the person until you're already dating them. My friend can vouch for this. He doesn't tell the girls that he dates about Pokémon until after he has been dating them for a while. I've asked him about it, and he says whenever he does decide to tell them, they never care. His gf actually almost came with him to nationals this year.
 
i actually lucked out with girls in this department.

My wife plays with me :)
 
Once a girl told me I had to choose between her and playing Pokemon.

I still miss her sometimes...
 
safariblade said:
Once a girl told me I had to choose between her and playing Pokemon.
Click to expand...
Why would anybody do that? ;___; *can't comprehend* Poor safari. <3
But if anybody says that, you can ask yourself if they were the right person to begin with.
 
None of my friends know about Pokemon and I intend to keep it this way for as long as I can, as pathetic as it is.

Sadly, I don't have the willpower to want to change this. :p
 
Pokemon isn't necessairly something to be ashamed of playing. It's really a fun and mind-testing game.
That doesn't mean that I go around telling my friends I play it, but I don't shy away from the subject either.
 
Well most of my friends played yu-gi-oh when I started playing pokemon so when I told them, they weren't worried and started playing pokemon. They have now given up on yu-gi-oh and we play at least once a week together.
 
I just don't care what other people think. ;) If they talk down or they do the whole, "You play POKEMON!?!" thing, give them the most dead serious look you can muster up and ask if that's a problem. Knowing how people react when I do it, they'll just shake their heads and move on with the conversation.
 
I'm 21.

I've never encountered someone who tried to belittle me for playing/liking Pokemon. Any girl I've dated (serious or a hook-up who was asking) never gave me slack for it; they thought it was cute and even would bring up funny stories relating. My current girlfriend thinks it's awesome, plays sometimes, and even grabs me packs every now and then. When I turned 21, she hand-painted some shot glasses with my favorite Pokemon, with help from her friends.

The guys I work with (I'm a gardener/construction laborer) always bring up memories and say that the games were fun. The only people who hate, are those who have to bring people down to feel better about themselves. Honestly, I find the "haters" of your hobbies to be the ones who worship reality shows obsessively and start "drama" - you know, the kids who are either in high school or haven't left it (physically or mentally.)

Do what you do. As long as no one's dying or being killed, who cares? :p

/end rant

lol
 
Johnnieboilulz said:
start "drama" - you know, the kids who are either in high school or haven't left it (physically or mentally.)

Do what you do. As long as no one's dying or being killed, who cares? :p

/end rant
Click to expand...

{R} Just as long as I'm not losing. {R}

(Lol, jk!)
 
If you're embarrassed about playing, please stop. It is unhealthy to keep up habits that you would not be willing to tell your close friends about. That being said, don't bring it up unless someone asks. If they make a big deal out of it, they shouldn't be your friends in the first place. People who are THAT judgmental are usually not worth being with. Be honest with yourself and your friends. My friends from school know all about my tournaments and ask me how I did whenever I leave town. If you have good friends, there should be no problem with telling them that you play Pokemon.

Also, you live in Hawaii? You should go to worlds :D
 
Man this is awesome to be able to do this. I love it and I am 30 years old and I still collect the cards. I have over 3,000 cards. About 3,396 cards as of yesterday. I have a church member that comes over once a week to share the gospel and also he trades his cards for some of my doubles. He is around 20 years old so yeah it is nothing to worry about plus it is a way to make a great friend too XD.:)
 
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